London Baby!!!

Just thought I would post really fast to say I am so excited! My mom arrives tomorrow and on Tuesday, Eric and I will be enjoying life in London!! Well at least I will. Eric will be in meetings and working all week but another co-worker's wife and I will be exploring the city!! This is the hotel we are staying at:

It looks like such a cool building. It is also near lots of places to see like, Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace. The only places outside of the US I have been are Mexico and Canada, so this will be quite an adventure! I'll be sure to report back with lots of pictures.

P.S. The title was just for you Kayla!!

The First Day of School

So I am a couple weeks late but wanted to post some picture of my big 1st grader! I am really excited about his teacher this year and he was happy to have some of the boys he knows in his class this year! I think it was a great start to what will be a great year!

What We've Been Up To! Part 1

So I decided it was time to post what we have been up to the last few months. A while back I took the first year of my blog and made it into a book. I love to look back at the pictures and stories. I realized that by slacking on posting this last year I have missed out on a lot of memories. My book (when I get to making it) for this year will be missing a lot because of my laziness. So in an effort to sort of catch I am going to try and post a lot the next few days. To make it easier for me it will probably be in two or three longer, picture filled posts. So here is part one of many:

BASEBALL:

This year Ethan decided to play t-ball again. I signed him up with the expectation that it would be similar to when he played last year. One practice and one game per week. Man, was I wrong. I don't know if it is the area we live in now or just the league that we signed him up in, but they are serious about t-ball!! It started out with practice 3 days a week! I couldn't believe it was 3 days a week for 6 year olds! Anyways, it ended up not being too bad because Eric decided to help out and be an assistant coach so Ethan and Eric would just go together. After a month or so of practice pre-season games started. It was then that I realized how serious these people took this. The teams we played had obviously been practicing as much or more than us and you could tell that most of them had been playing for years already. It was crazy! We didn't do so hot in the pre-season but as we got into regular season we did much better. I found out the pre-season teams we played were in a more competitive league so that's why they were so much better. The teams in our league were a lot closer to our skill level. We ended the season in 3rd place. I would like to say the whole season was fun and great but Ethan actually got burned out on baseball about half way through. I think 3 or 4 days of baseball per week was too much for him.

The following picture is how he looked pre-game the first half of the season:
He was actually excited to play and go to the games. This is how he looked pre-game the last half of the season:



It was typically a fight to get him dressed and in the car. And he ended up in tears saying he hated baseball and didn't want to play anymore before most games and practices. Needless to say we were all happy to see the end of the season.
Even though the end of the season was a little rough I think he had a good time. If you ask him if he had fun he says yes. If you ask if he wants to play again he will quickly say no, but I think overall it was a good experience for all of us.

Here he is running for home. Since I can't remember if he got tagged out before he made it, I will give him the benefit and say he scored the run. It looks like he was going to get there first doesn't it?

Leaving first base! Notice Coach Eric in the background.

Emily and Emery were a little hard to entertain during the games so we usually ended up with suckers or snacks from the concession stand. Here they are just hanging out!

SEA WORLD:

In May we decided to make what has become our annual trip to Sea World. The kids love it and since it isn't that far away we can just make it a long weekend. This year we were lucky enough to meet Eric's parents there! It was great to see them and be able to spend some time with them.

We love to go in May because it is not too hot and there are no lines or big crowds. Ethan did have to miss a day of school but it is worth it to miss the summer heat and the summer crowds. This was the first year we were going to do the water park since it is only open on Saturdays in May. The kids were so excited! Our plan was to do the last few show and rides on Saturday morning and then spend the afternoon at the water park. As luck would have it, the morning was perfect and then it rained all afternoon so they didn't get to swim after all. They were so disappointed. We braved the rain though and were able to get a few extra shows and enjoy the rides with no lines after it stopped. They also got to put their swim suits on and play in the little splash zone, so that made it a little better.

Here are Emily and I riding the Shamu Express. This was the first year she was tall enough to ride. She had to have an adult with her, but she was so excited and wanted to ride it over and over! Thanks to no lines, she got to do that!

One of Ethan and Emily's favorite rides is the Texas Splash down! You can't see Emily in this picture because she wanted to be all the way in the back.

Here they are in the splash park. Ethan never stood still long enough to have his picture taken. And as you can see from the pictures Emery wasn't too sure what he thought. One minute it was fun, the next it was not so fun!

Last year when we went we Dined with Shamu and the kids loved it so much we thought we would do it again. It really isn't that much more expensive then eating at the cafes in the park but the food is much better. It is also a fun experience. You really get to see the whales close up . Here's a picture that Eric took from right in front of our table.

This year we decided to check out a wildlife ranch that is on our way home. It was an interesting place. The kids thought it was really neat to see all the different animals that close up.

This is an ostrich sticking his head in the car in front of us. We were smart enough to roll our windows up so we didn't pecked to death. They kind of scare me.

I wasn't too scared of the other animals although some got a little too close at times. Her is the zebra eating from my hand. The kids were so excited that it stuck it's head in the car.

I wasn't too excited about the cows. For some reason they like to lick anything they could. It was so nasty to have clean cow slobber in the inside of my car. The kids thought it was the most hilarious thing they had ever seen!

We also stayed at a great hotel that had it's own water slides and lazy river! We only wish we had more time to hang out and enjoy all the fun they had to offer at the hotel. We all had a great time but I think we decided next year we will try a new destination. Sea World is fun but after 3 years in a row Eric and I are ready for something new and different.


SWIM LESSONS:

The first week of summer Ethan and Emily had 2 weeks of swim lessons. This is the second year they have taken from Miss Carol and I am still amazed at how good she is. Ethan and Emily are turning into great swimmers. They both used to scream if water even splashed in their faces. Now Ethan will jump off the diving board and can swim the length of Miss Carol's pool. Emily can swim the shorter length and they both are doing well on their backs. It was great to see them learning so much and doing so well. We love Miss Carol!!

Ethan jumping in. She wanted them to jump in like pencils. Ethan took it very seriously and always reminded the kids who belly flopped of face planted that they were supposed to be like pencils.

Emily never belly flopped or face planted, but she had a hard time keep her legs straight. Cannon ball (sort of)!!

The last picture is Emery just hanging out. Keeping him away from the water wasn't not the easiest job.

The rest of the summer has been filled with lots of fun trips, concerts and of course swimming! Look for more posts to come about all those fun activities!

Behind

I feel like am always behind. Behind in laundry. Behind in housework. Behind in scrapbooking. Behind in blogging. Behind in more things than I can even list. I wonder if I will ever catch up. Probably not.

The Big 3-0!!

So today is a big day for me. The big 3-0! It's hard to believe that I am as old as I am. I still feel like I am 21 (then I look in the mirror, but that is a whole post in and of itself). Am I really that old?

Eric and the kids decided yesterday was a better day to celebrate since Eric would be home all day. After church and lunch they let me take a nap. It was fabulous!! I got to sleep for about 2 hours. Then I woke up to a bunch of balloons and a sign on my door. They also presented me with a flashing 30 pin and a beautiful birthday princess crown! I got to open my presents and we had family over for brownies and ice cream! It was so fun and I definitely have been spoiled by my family and friends.

The Birthday Princess! I kept trying to ditch the crown but Emily kept finding it and making me put it back on.

My present from Ethan was Mario Cart for the Wii. I love Mario Cart!!

Emily gave me another wheel for the Mario Cart game.

Eric got me good this year. He gave me a card that had a coupon for a free plane ticket for my mom to come visit! I was so excited and called her last night to tell her to think about when she wants to come. After hanging up Eric asked me when she was coming. I told him we would decide later, but probably in the fall. He got a really funny look on his face and said "she didn't say anything about Thursday?" He had already bought the ticket and she is coming on Thursday!!! I am so excited to see her! I have the best husband in the world. He knew that seeing my mom would be one the best gifts ever!

After dinner Bryan and Michelle (Eric's brother and his wife) came over with their 4 kids for brownies and ice cream. Emma and Rachael were so sweet and made the funniest cards.

The first one was from Rachael. She handed me a Ziploc bag with 2 pieces of gum and a crumpled up tissue. When she handed it to me she informed me that she had eaten the M&M that was in there. Then she opened up the bag for me and handed me the tissue. This is what it looked like:

The best part about it was when Michelle I realized that the gum in there was from my kitchen drawer. I guess after she ate the M&M she wanted to replace it with something. Man, I love that little girl!! She is such a nut.

This next one is the one from Emma:

She put little blobs of cookie dough on the top of it and wrote:

Cookies are sweet and so are you to. Have a happy birthday. Love, Emma

Isn't she the sweetest. The cookie dough blobs are a little gross looking, but the rest of it is so cute!! The whole tissue thing cracks me up. Maybe I should buy them some paper when their birthdays come around.

Michelle was nice enough to bring me a plate of cookie dough cookies. I would much rather eat the cookie dough than the cookie!! Yummy!

Kayla was a great friend today! She watched Emily and Emery while I went and had a pedicure! The lady asked if I wanted something on my big toes so I thought I would do it this time since I usually don't. I was thinking it would be a cute little flower or something. I am not so sure I would have gone for it if I knew it would look like this:

The pedicure it self was very enjoyable and the design isn't that bad is it?

I also got this from my friend Jene':

I was so excited! I already have 2 of these that we use fairly often to make little pizzas and of course we love to make brownies and cookies in them. Every time I use mine I wish that I had 4 of them so I could cook one for everyone at the same time. Now I can!!

So over all I can say it has been an awesome birthday. We are doing a girls lunch tomorrow and of course on Thursday my mom will be here!! I guess 30 isn't so bad!!

P.S. I was a busy blogger today so you can scroll down for a few more new posts!

Easter

I am trying to get all caught up so here is a report on Easter. I wasn't very good at remembering to take pictures this year so I really only have pictures of the kids coloring eggs. I forgot to take pictures of the egg hunt and I also didn't have time to take pictures of everyone all dressed up before church (one of the drawbacks of 9 am church).

Emily showing off her Easter Bunny egg. I was really impressed with her egg drawing skills. I think she did better than I could have done.

Ethan was really concentrating on his drawing.

Emery tried to join in the action.

Everyone hard at work.

I am going to have the kids wear their Easter clothes again next week so that I can get a picture of them all dressed up. They looked so cute!!

This year we had a night time egg hunt with our neighbors. They had these awesome eggs that glow when you shine a flash light on them. The kids thought it was so fun to stay up late and do it in the dark. I think we are going to make it a yearly tradition. The Easter Bunny also visited this year and brought the kids a basket full of stuff. The only problem is that for some reason the Easter Bunny forgot that he was supposed to hide the eggs for them. Hopefully next year he won't be so forgetful ;)!!

Over all we had a great Easter weekend. The egg hunts, baskets and Easter bunny are all fun but I love Easter for it's true meaning. I am so grateful for my Savior and for the sacrifices he made for me and my family. I am so glad that because of Him I have the opportunity to be with my family forever. I hope that I will never take this granted and always work hard to do my best so that His sacrifice for me will not have been in vain.

The New Cast

So here I am behind once again but I wanted to make sure to get a picture of Emily with her pink cast. A few days after the "big break" we had an appointment to have another x-ray and make sure everything was still in place. Everything still looked good but the Dr. didn't like the amount of padding in the cast from the ER so we got a new one! Emily was so excited to choose the color and had a hard time deciding between pink and camouflage. With a little coaxing from me she luckily chose the pink one.

That same day I took advantage of some one on one time with her and took her out to lunch. The manager at chik fil a loved her and felt sorry for her with her little cast so she spoiled Emily rotten. She gave her a balloon, a cow pez thing, a little stuffed cow and a free ice cream cone. It was so fun to sit and eat and just focus all my attention on her. We had a great time!!

Emily is really excited because the cast should come off in 2 days!! We go in for another x-ray and as long as everything looks good we will leave there cast free. She can't wait to have her arm back and I can't wait until she can take a bath without me worrying that it will get wet. I'll be sure to post what happens when we go in!

Poor Em

I feel like we have been to the ER way too many times this year. Last week Emery had another cold and another round of breathing treatments and I was thinking how nice it was that we had it under control and hadn't been to the ER lately. Well of course that was the kiss of death...

Last night Eric left for the church at about 6:40 and the kids were super tired so I was going to put them right to bed. They asked to go outside so I reluctantly said okay but for only 15 minutes. After being outside for a few minutes Emily came in crying that she had bumped her arm on the slide. She was pretty upset but I just figured it was because she was so tired. After about 10 minutes she was still crying uncontrollably. I started to worry that her arm was really hurt. After a lot of waffling and Eric coming home from his meeting we decided it was worth taking her in to get it checked out. So Eric, being the awesome dad and husband he is, left at about 8:00 for the ER. This is the picture he took with his cell phone at the hospital:

This is my cute little Emily today:

(This is her pretending to be sad. She was all smiles once the camera came out.)

After about 5 hours in the ER she now has a cast all the way up to her shoulder. She broke it just above her elbow. Luckily it was a clean break so they didn't have to re-set it, they just had to cast it up. She will have the cast for 4 weeks and then probably another 4 weeks just trying to get the mobility back. We're so glad that it will be off before Sea World and swim lessons. She is actually in really good spirits today. I've only heard a few complaints of pain and we've had a few tears over itches under the cast that can't be scratched. She was sad when I told her no more gymnastics for a few months. She was really hopeful when she asked if that meant no school either and then disappointed when I told her she could still go to school. It should be an interesting 4 weeks. I'll keep everyone posted.

Spring Break and Catching Up

Okay, so my starting again didn't quite work out the way I had planned, but at least this time I have let a little less time pass between posts.

Looking back, I see that I started many posts that I never finished so I am going to start finishing those posts as I get time. They will all post in order of the date I started them, they won't show up as new posts, so as I finish them I will post a link to them for anyone who is interested in checking them out. The first one I have finished is Emily's 4th Birthday. My goal is is to finish a few of those along with new posts about what's happening in our life.

A couple of weeks ago we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house for spring break. We had a great time! The first day we were there we went to the Museum of Natural Science to check out the butterfly exhibit.

We were lucky enough to have all the cousins on that side of the family together. Here they are (except Brandon) sitting on the caterpillar outside of the exhibit.

Emily and her cousins Rachael and Emma

This is Ethan pretending to be sad because he didn't want his picture taken

This is Emery really sad because he didn't want his picture taken.

This one is a little better

At the end of the exhibit they had a vending machine where Eric purchased some yummy bacon and cheese flavored crickets. Then he tried to convince everyone to try them. Most of the kids pretended to eat one but I think Eric and his brother Jared were the only ones who really tried them. Yuck!!

Ethan pretending to eat it

Jared, just before he chomped one down

Outside of the museum there is a rose garden and a little park that we went to. Only a couple of the kids were interested in smelling the roses, but they all played a fun game of tag and then Eric helped them climb up into the tree.

Everyone was worn out by the end of the day, but we all had a great time. The next day we decided to go check out all the action at the annual livestock show and rodeo. We didn't have tickets to the rodeo, but we let the kids go check out all the animals and ride a few of the carnival rides. Unfortunately we forgot our camera that day so I don't have any pictures. But like the day before the kids had a great time!

The last fun activity for the kids was an Easter egg hunt and BBQ with Grandma and Grandpa's ward. It was at the park so they got to run around and play on the playground and they each came away with a basket full of candy filled eggs. After they got all hyped up on sugar, the adults were lucky enough to turn them all over to babysitters for a night out. One of the main reasons for our trip was Paul's (Eric's dad) retirement party. We are so excited for him and had a great time at his party!

I was also lucky enough to get together with a few of my friends that still live in Houston for dessert! I miss girls night out with them so it was so fun to be able to go out and catch up. Definitely something I wish we could do more often

Lastly I just wanted to add a couple cute pictures of Emery! Grandma gave him is first Twinkie while we were there. Needless to say he loved it!